Sins
by JeanBoulet
Summary: Ed and Al become involved in Hughes' murder. They go to a small, beatup town to look for the homunculi, and find one, though it's not the homunculus that they're looking for...R&R, PLEASE! i really need feedback on this one...CHAPTER 17 UP!
1. Arrival

Sins

Edward and Alphonse Elric's train had come to its final stop for their type of ticket and had let them off at this stop. Kraeyensburg, the broken sign had once said. Ed looked around the town. "Is this what we've sunk to, Al? A low-life's town!" indeed, there was hardly any sign of an actual road structure, just tracks where wagons had passed by. And not a single building was made of any type of stone, not even what seemed to be the federal building.

"Oh come on, Brother, it's not so ba--" started the tall suit of armor, until an entire building collapsed right next to them.

"Hmph." Ed crossed his arms. "You were saying...?"

"Ah...well...uh...it seems to be...okay, it's a low-life's town, but it's all that our train ticket to get us to. We'll have to wait until next week to get a ticket to Darensford." they started to walk through the town.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah...well, I wonder if there's anything to do around he--whoa..." Ed stopped in his tracks.

Standing in front of Ed and Al was a young woman about sixteen years old. She had lightly tanned skin and long black hair. She wore leather gloves that reached all the way up to her shoulders and her hair was pulled into a very long French braid. The woman wore very baggy black pants and a black tank top. This was very unusual, due to the fact that the sun was amazingly hot in this town.

But what amazed Ed most about this woman were her eyes. Her eyes were a pure gold. Not a natural bronze golden, like his own eyes, but purely golden, almost like a cat's eyes.

Al noticed that his brother was spacing out, so he waved his hand in front of Ed's eyes. "Earth to Brother! Hello?"

"Al…" Ed turned the suit of armor's head towards the girl. Al's jaw dropped. "I know…isn't she _hot_?"

"No, that's not what I'm staring at! Brother, do you realize who that is!"

"One fine—"

"No, the person she's talking to!"

Ed looked at whom the girl was talking to and frowned. "Mustang…? What's he doing here? Come on, Al, let's check it out." Ed walked over to the Colonel.

"Coming!" Al followed close behind him.


	2. Meeting

Sins

As he neared, Ed started to hear parts of the Colonel and the girl's conversation. "Sir, I don't feel comfortable going through with this mission."

"What seems to be the problem?"

"This mission goes against my re—" the girl's eyes fell to Ed and Al standing right next to the Colonel. "Yes?"

"Oh! Uh, yeah…Colonel?" Mustang turned to Ed. He smiled.

"Nice to see you, Fullmetal. Alphonse. How are you boys?"

"Good, Sir!" squeaked Al.

"Wait a minute…" murmured the girl. "Fullmetal…The Fullmetal Alchemist!" a look of disbelief crossed her face. "But you're a kid—"

"I'M SEVENTEEN!"

"Okay, whatever. The point is, I expected you to be older. Or at least a bit taller…"

"HEY!" Ed was fuming by now, so Al thought he'd step in.

"What are you doing here, Colonel Mustang?" he asked.

"Following a lead." He answered.

"What kind of lead?" Ed asked, still calming down.

"A lead on Mayes Hughes' death." Ed looked down.

"Colonel…it's been over a year since the Brigadier General's death. Don't you think that we should focus our manpower on the Deadly Sins?"

"That is exactly what I'm doing, Fullmetal." There was impatience in his voice. "Our Intelligence believes that the Brigadier General was murdered by the Deadly Sins in order to cover up the identity of one of their own within the military." Ed and Al gasped.

"Are you sure, Colonel?"

"I'm sure. By further examination of Mayes' notes and materials, it looks like he was on to discovering the identity of one Jordan Limfour."

"Any idea who this Limfour guy is?"

"I have my theories. I believe that Limfour, who died on October 14th, 1890 could not have signed up for the army's service as a secretary on September 19th, 1912."

"So you believe that this impostor Limfour is possibly Envy shape-shifting into Limfour?"

"No, I believe that the impostor is another Deadly Sin. Possibly one that we do not yet know of. PerhapsWrath, Greed, or Sloth." His eyes shifted uneasily to the girl whom he was talking with. She automatically looked down. "They seem the most likely, in my opinion."

"Okay, so have you located the impostor Limfour yet?"

"Yes. It is working as the General's secretary."

"Then why don't you arrest it?"

Mustang shook his head. "If I had support on my theory I wouldn't be looking for evidence here, would I?"

"I guess not, Sir. Um…who is this charming young lady?" Ed smiled at the young woman next to Mustang.

"This 'young lady' is two-hundred and fifty-seven years old." Responded the girl.

Ed and Al recoiled out of shock.

"B-B-But—! Y-You look…sixteen!" stuttered Ed.

The girl rolled her eyes. "That's what everyone says." She turned to the Colonel. "I'll be going now, if there's nothing else that I am needed for."

"You are free to go, Sin."

"I will check up on you within the next twenty-four hours, Sir."

"Good. I will see you then." With that, she left the three of them standing by the bar.

"S-Sir?" Al stuttered. "Who exactly was that?"

"That was Kraya Ami'ish. You will refer to her as Sin. She is your superior, and has been an alchemist much longer than you or I have been."

"But sir, how can Sin be so old? She looks like she hasn't aged a day."

"Sin, as her code name suggests, has done many things in her life that she regrets horribly. Perhaps sometime you will be able to ask her what they are, but I will tell you this: her unnaturally long life is one of many side effects."

"You mean she's messed with things that she should have? Like us?" Ed asked.

"I said you'd have to ask her that one day."

"But Sir," piped Al. "If she's a State Alchemist, where's her watch? Usually I can see it, maybe it was hidden, but—"

"No, Alphonse. You were correct in assuming that her watch was not on her person. Sin is working undercover for us in some black market dealings. It's natural that she shouldn't have her watch on her person. She used to be one of the Seven Deadly Sins, did you know that?"

"No, Sir!" they both exclaimed in unison. Al added the 'Sir' bit.

"Sin used to be the leader, until...things came up.Lust threw her out and claimed the title."

"Which Deadly Sin was she?" Al inquired.

"Pride…" Ed answered. "Wasn't it?" Mustang nodded. "I could feel it…her eyes were full of pride…pride in her job and in herself. Didn't you feel it too, Al?"

Al shook his head. "Nuh-uh."

Mustang shifted to look at his pocket watch. "I had better go."

"Sir?"

"I have to keep looking for clues to link the Deadly Sins to Mayes' murder." Ed stopped him.

"I'm sorry, Sir, but since Sin used to be a Deadly Sin, shouldn't we assume that she might still be in with the Seven and might try to cause trouble?"

"Sin is two-hundred and fifty-seven years old, has been an alchemist for two-hundred and forty-five, and has been in the army as a state alchemist for two-hundred and thirty-seven."

Ed and Al just stood there, eyes wide and mouths open.

"It's natural to think that a person would convert back to their old ways, or an old group that they used to hang out with, but Sin is not that type of person. She has learned from her mistakes as both a homunculusand a person." When he saw Ed's look of disbelief, he added, "And we often run tests on her, from time to time. Her run-ins withthe Sevenhave been catastrophic, and it is necessary that we monitor her bodily functions. During that time, we often slip a bit of truth serum into her medicine and ask her questions about her loyalty to us. The military keeps up with its loose ends, Fullmetal."

"Yessir." Ed saluted, and Al mirrored him. Mustang returned his salute.

"I'll see you boys some other time." And he walked off.


	3. Discoveries

"Brother…?"

"Yeah, Al?" Ed slipped his hands into his pockets.

"Do you believe what Colonel Mustang said? That Sin is no longer with the Deadly Sins?"

"No. I wouldn't believe a word of what Mustang says at the moment. He's blinded by Hughes' death."

"Well, they were friends. It's only natural that he wants to find Hughes' killer. And he was right; since Hughes' killer was a Deadly Sin, naturally it's the military's main priority right now—"

"This theory of his doesn't really check out, Al. I mean, think about it: according to Mustang, this impostor Jordan Limfour killed Hughes, right? Well, then why didn't Limfour cover his tracks? Just kill Mustang, or something? And we don't even know if Limfour is even a Deadly Sin. For all we know, Limfour could just be some crazy wacko running loose."

"But isn't it possible that after we learn that Envy can transform into other identities that she transformed into someone else and shot Mayes Hughes after he learned about a Deadly Sin spy in the military?"

Ed smoothed back his bangs. "I guess it's possible, but that still leaves one major question."

"Why didn't anyone check Limfour's records and see that he was already dead?"

"And even more curious…"

"Now that Colonel Mustang has shared his theories with his superiors, why don't they check into Jordan Limfour's records?"

"Exactly. I think it's time we checked into this game, Al. We need to track down the Deadly Sins, find Hughes' murderer, and make sure that we're covering our tracks the entire time."

Al nodded.

"But first…"

"Yes, Brother?"

Ed slumped. "Let's get a room and something to eat. I'm starving…!"

Al sighed. "You never change. Come on. I think I saw an inn on the way from the train station." He gestured in the direction that they had come from.

"Okay." Ed and Al walked over towards the train station. When they didn't see anything for about thirty minutes, Ed turned to Al, annoyed. "So where's this inn you saw?"

"Uhh…umm…" Al looked all around. "I thought I saw one…OH!" he lifted up a finger in thought. "I remember where I saw an inn!"

Ed waited for the answer. "And this place would be…?"

Al looked around again. "Uhhh…that way." He pointed back towards the town.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"

"I-I'm sorry, Brother! I know it's this way, I KNOW it is!" he started running towards the town. Ed, dragging behind but still fuming, ran after him.

"YOU BETTER BE SURE!" he screamed. "It's too damn hot to not be sure…" so for the next hour, they trudged around the entire city of Kraeyensburg looking for an inn to stay for the week.

Finally, Ed collapsed under the cool shade of a street bar. "I GIVE UP!" he moaned. "It's gotta be over 110 degrees here, Al! I can't move another inch!"

"The inn has to be here somewhere…"

Ed shot him an angry look. "THAT'S WHAT YOU SAID FOR THE LAST HOUR!"

"It's not healthy to be wandering around in 100 degree weather wearing a trench coat and black pants for an extended amount of time, you know."

"Yeah, well we wouldn't have had to do that if metal brain here were—wait…" Ed turned around to see who the voice was.

"Sin!" Al gasped. He instinctively drew nearer to his brother out of protection.

Sin half-smiled. "Yeah. If you guys need a room, you can come to my place. I have a pretty big apartment building, and they're renting."

"No, we're actually just staying for the week. We don't need your hospitality." Ed's voice was grave, and he wore a scowl on his face.

"Fine." she turned to go, but then turned back around. "By the way, there's an inn right behind you." She pointed towards the building that Ed was standing in front of. "Have a nice week, and try not to get killed." She turned around and started to walk off.

"Wait!" Al stopped her. "We're really sorry. Thank you for pointing out the inn to us. We were going around in circles."

"Yeah, I could see that." She added coldly. "See you boys later."

"What do you mean, 'boys'!" Ed cut in. "I'm seventeen and Al's sixteen!"

"Oh, you're right. Al's the man here."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?"

"What does it sound like I mean, shrimp? You look like a boy, and you even act like one. Your brother is acting older than you are right now, you know."

"You don't know anything!" cried Al. "Brother's been stronger than I have through everything we've been through together! I can't think of anyone who would have been stronger than him in our situation."

Sin opened her mouth to say something, but stopped. She shrugged. "You're right. I don't know anything about what you've been through over the past few years, but I know how you got your soul stuck to that armor, Al." She turned to Ed. "And I know how you got an automail arm and leg. But I don't know about what happened after that. I'm sorry." She turned and started to leave when Al took her arm.

"But we know nothing about you." Al pointed out.

"You know so much about us," Ed walked over to her. "But we want to know what happened to you. What happened for you to have a long life? Why did you try it?"

Sin snarled and pulled away from Al's grasp. But as she did so, her glove got caught on Al's armor, so it was pulled off. Both brothers gasped.

Sin's arm was made entirely of automail, just like Ed's.

Almost automatically, Sin yanked her glove from Al's hand and quickly put it back on.

"What the hell do you think you're trying to pull!" she yelled.

"You were a failed human transmutation, weren't you?" Ed said calmly. "That's why you became a homunculus. But…why is your arm automail?"

"No." she pulled off her other glove. "Two arms—" and then she rolled up both of her pants. "—And two legs. All of my limbs are automail." Ed looked down.

"How?" he muttered. "How is it possible? I thought homunculi could never lose any of their limbs."

"I thought that would be obvious," Sin said, putting her gloves back on and rolling down her pant legs. "I was brought back whole, but lost them."

Ed frowned in frustration. "That's not possible, at least in the homunculi we've seen."

"Which is why you've never seen me. Dante gave me the red stones, but there was one flaw in her plan. The stones were faulty. She had created, quite literally, a monster. It would not obey her commands, and it roamed freely, collecting the homunculi that Dante had created and uniting them under its command. That monster was I."

Ed clenched his fists. "Then what happened?"

Al could tell that his brother was both curious and disgusted.

Sin shrugged. "I thought that that, too, would be obvious. Dante found my weakness. I was buried close to Central, and she dug up my bones. But, unlike the homunculi you have seen, I was only turned mortal. This monster that Dante had created amazed her, but, nonetheless, she had to destroy it." Sin's golden orbs glazed with the memory. "But she failed. She cut off all of its limbs and left it for dead, assuming that it would die within minutes. Indeed, that would have been true, if it had not been for a stranger helping the monster. The stranger took the monster under his wing and gave its life meaning again. Thus, I was born. You see, the monster and I are not the same person, Ed."

"Who was the stranger?"

"It's none of your business." She snapped, glaring at him.

"But—" started Al

"No 'buts'." Sin turned away. "Just leave me alone." And then she walked off, hands in her pant pockets.


	4. Questions

Al turned to Ed. "Brother, I think we should check into the hotel. It's getting late, and I don't exactly trust this town."

Ed nodded. "Me, neither, Al." His eyes were fixed on Sin's fading figure. "Who do you suppose took her in?" he though aloud.

Al shrugged. "Maybe it had something to do with the Military?"

"We know that each of the Deadly Sins has a power." They started walking to the hotel. "Lust has her long fingernails, Gluttony has his hunger for blood and flesh, Envy can shape-shift into any human, Wrath can form his body into anything…so what was Sin's? I mean, what made her so special that the Deadly Sins called her their leader?" when they reached the hotel, Ed paid for a room for two and they both went to the room.

The room wasn't much, what with it's dirty mattress bed, cracked window and rat-infested walls, but it was only going to be for a few days, so they could handle it for now. Ed sat down on the bed and Al took a seat on the floor by the bed.

"Kraya Ami'ish…" Al muttered.

"What is it, Al?"

"I'm sure it's nothing, but I'm almost positive that I've heard that name before…almost positive…" he stared at the floor, thinking.

"Can you think of where?"

Al shook his head. "I don't know. I remember it being alchemy-related, though…" he thought for a few more seconds, but then his head jerked up. "Kraya Ami'ish!"

"I thought we already established that?"

"No, the name! Mustang said that the only person before you that could use alchemy without a circle was Ami'ish! It _had_ to have been Sin!"

Ed shrugged. "It may not be anything. Ami'ish is a common Russian name. It may have been another Ami'ish, not even Kraya at all."

"Brother, I'm serious. I'm sure it was her. How many Ami'ishes have you heard of in the military? And why haven't we heard of them before?"

"We didn't hear about Sin before." Ed pointed out, lying down on the bed, his eyes on the ceiling.

"Well, no, but…Brother, I just know she's the Ami'ish I heard Mustang talking about. Imagine, the first person to do alchemy without a circle…"

"It's probably because she has the automail arms like me. Someone shatters her arm, she'll have no more power."

"But she has two automail arms, Brother! Think about how much power you have with one and Sin has two."

"Are you finished drooling about her yet?" Ed sat up, irritated. "She's not all that, Al. She's a Deadly Sin! How much do we know about her, really? All we have are theories that might not even be true. What does that leave us with? Absolutely no information about her. All we know about her is that she was Pride, leader of the Deadly Sins, but now she's Miss Outcast working for the military undercover."

"You don't have to be so cold, Brother—"

"I'm not being cold, Al. I'm being reasonable." He stared at the concrete floor. "When you've killed as many people as Sin did…working with other freaks of nature who want nothing but to destroy the world…that kind of evil doesn't just go away, Al. It stays with you. It never goes away. I can never forget the things that we did when we were younger." His eyes shifted to his automail arm. "And even though I know that Mom will never come back…even after the disaster…I still wish I could try again. Without any thought of the consequences."

"Brother…" Al stared at him for a moment longer, but then looked to the ground. "I know what you mean." Ed turned his attention to his brother. "I still want to bring her back, too. And I guess you're right. That kind of temptation never goes away. But sometimes…that feeling…it can be suppressed. Maybe that's what Sin's doing. Suppressing the evil that she was apart of for so long."

"That's just the thing, Al. She's always going to have that evil, and sometimes…you _can't_ suppress it. Sometimes…it's just too much."

"You don't know that, Brother—"

"And neither do you." He pointed out. "We can only guess. But I have a strong feeling about this…"

Al nodded. "You're right, Brother…I'm sorry."

Ed sighed. "No, Al…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that." He smiled at his brother in the armor. "Hey, I'm starving. Wanna go with me to get something to eat?"

Al excitedly stood up. "Sure! Maybe we can explore this town, too, eh, Brother?" Ed shrugged.

"I dunno, Al. This isn't exactly the friendliest place…wasn't it you that said you didn't want to stay out in the town past dusk?"

"Well…yeah, you're right…maybe we should see if we can sneak past the cook in the kitchen downstairs?"

Ed licked his lips. "Of course we can, Al. All we need is a little helping _hand_."

About fifteen minutes later, both of the Elric brothers were running at full speed from the inn's head chef. After a mile or two of running, they stopped to catch their breaths.

"Can you believe that, Al! That bastard actually came after us with a frying pan!"

"Hey…at least it had food in it…"

"It's not like we can eat that sausage now…it's contaminated…ugh…" Ed's stomach gave a growl. "I am so hungry, Al!"

"Well, I guess, since we're already out here, we have to look around the town, right, Brother?"

Ed groaned. "Fine! But where are we going to find food?"

Al shrugged. "I dunno." Then a thought crossed his mind. "I know, Brother! We can go to Sin, can't we? I mean, she does live just around the corner—"

"No." Ed replied flatly.

"But Brother—"

"I said no, Al. I'm not going to Sin for food. That's just needy, and I have NO intention to seem needy in front of her." Ed crossed his arms.

"Wait a minute…" Al studied his brother, then smiled. "You _like her_, don't you!"

Ed blushed a brilliant shade of fuchsia. "I-I do not!" he tried to turn away, but Al wouldn't let him get away so easily.

"You do, too! I KNEW IT!"

"You-You're just jumping to conclusions, Al! I do NOT like that bitch!" this time he succeeded in turning away, but Al kept on teasing him until Ed finally gave in and went to go beg Sin for food.


	5. Chance Encounter

Sin stormed into her apartment and flicked off her boots. She tore off both of her gloves and sat down onto her bed. She ran her automail fingers through her silky black hair to get it out of the French braid that it was tied into. Sin closed her eyes as she got up to take a shower. She turned the heat of the water to its full strength and stepped in. Steam rolled off of her body, caressing each and every one of her many feminine curves. Sin took in the heat and steam, breathing deeply until she was relaxed.

When she was done washing her hair and body, Sin stepped out of the shower, water dripping off of her form and onto the concrete floors of her bathroom. She reached out and found a cloth to dry off. She wrapped the cloth around her damp form and went back out to her living room to get her clothes.

Sitting on the windowsill, Lust laughed. Sin froze, not out of fear, but of hate.

"You never change, Pride." Lust's voice was smooth and silky, seductive. "To relax, you always bathe."

Sin calmly turned around. "And you never change, either, Lust. Always spying in on your prey."

Lust laughed again. It was a horrid laugh, like glass shattering. "How rude you are, Pride. I would never dream of setting my sights on the likes of you. Even after two-hundred and fifty-seven years, you are still sharper than ever."

A smirk came over Sin's lips. "I wish I could say the same for you, Lust. It's only been, what? Fifty for you? Tsk, tsk, Lust. You've certainly not been keeping up with the things I've taught you, have you?"

Lust's smile instantly faded.

Sin laughed at her reaction. "What are you doing here, Lust?" the alchemist dropped her towel and started to put her clothes back on.

"Checking up on you, as always. I always like to see if, every once in a while, the old Pride will come out to play."

"And, again, as always, you are disappointed." Sin whirled around. "I'm not the same person I was fifty years ago, Lust—"

"Very true, Pride. You weren't even human, and it's not like you are now." Lust walked silkily over to Sin. "But, you know," she continued. "The old Pride wouldn't have even cared."

"The old Pride is dead, Lust." Sin said sternly, now fully dressed. "My name is Sin now." and she turned away.

Lust glared at Sin. "You forget, Pride, you may have some human components, but mostly, you're still an homunculi; don't ever forget that, Pride. You still have our one, true weakness—"

"Which was destroyed a long time ago. I'm very sorry to have burst your bubble. I burned my remains as soon as I was brought back. I knew my weaknesses, and I had to eliminate them as soon as possible." Sin shrugged. "So I did. It was as simple as that. Now leave my home." And she turned her back on the homunculus.

"You can never leave us, Pride! Dante may have abandoned you, and chopped you into minced meat, but you are still connected to the homunculi!" Lust called out. "Joining the military did not and will not free you from our pull!"

"I freed myself from your 'pull' a long time ago, Lust. Now, if you don't leave right this instant, I shall be inclined to use force." There was a malicious glint in Sin's eyes that sparked just a flicker of fear inside Lust.

Lust nodded, her expression a blank glare, but as she turned to go, there was an abrupt knock on Sin's door. Immediately, the two inhuman pairs of eyes flew in its direction. The knock sounded again.

"Sin? Sin, open up, it's Ed and Al Elric! Can we come in?"

Lust's eyes widened as Sin's and her eyes met in a ferocious gaze.

"You have met the Elric brothers!" demanded Lust in an urgent whisper.

"What of it?" Sin said menacingly.

"You knew they were here all this time, didn't you!"

Sin laughed. "Do you really think I would turn those boys over to the likes of the homunculi? Come on, Lust, I thought you knew me better than that."

"You realize what I have to do, don't you! I have to tell the One. She'll take care of the Smelric brothers!" as Lust made to get out the window, Sin was in front of her, moving at the speed of light.

"I'm afraid I can't let that happen, Lust." All of a sudden, Lust was thrown backwards and she slammed up against the wall next to the door. Lust stood up wearily and pulled herself together. "Oh, come on, Lust. Am I really that much stronger than you?" Sin smirked again and Lust was slammed yet again against the wall.

"Sin!" called Ed, frantically. "Sin, are you all right? What's going on in there!"

"Well, aren't you rude?" Lust stood up. "Let's let in your guests, yes?" she whirled around and her extendible claws punctured the door, and with one quick whip of her hand, Lust hurled the pathetic wooden door off of its hinges. There, in the doorway, stood Ed and Al Elric, mouths hanging open. "Hello, boys," mused Lust.

"Lust!" Ed growled menacingly.

"Ed, Al, get the hell out of here!" commanded Sin as she clapped her two metal hands together. Lightening shot out from them and struck down Lust.

"No frickin' way!" Ed started to clap his hands together, but was suddenly hurled backwards by an unseen force.

"Big Brother!" cried Al, rushing to his side.

Sin whipped her head to face Lust, but she had disappeared out the window.


	6. Bad Tempers

Sin then whirled her head around to face Al and Ed, anger showing clearly upon her face.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING, GETTING INVOLVED LIKE THIS! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED, DO YOU REALIZE THAT!" she screamed.

"YOU SHOULD BE THANKING US RIGHT NOW!" they were both nose to nose, yelling at each other.

"OH, FOR LETTING HER GET AWAY! OH, THEN THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!" Sin threw her hands up in the air and turned and walked away.

"DON'T YOU BLAME ME! IF YOU HADN'T HAVE STOPPED ME, LUST WOULD BE DEAD RIGHT NOW!"

"You can't kill an homunculus by normal forces, Ed." Said Sin calmly.

"Right," Al piped up. "You have to have a part of their original body, right, Sin?"

Sin nodded, eyes closed.

"Then where's your original body?" Al stared at his elder brother and Sin turned to face him.

"You should know better than to ask that, Ed." She said menacingly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, forgive me." He said sarcastically. Sin stood.

"Don't give me that lip of yours, Elric!" she raged. Ed stood as well.

"WHY IS IT SUCH A CRIME TO WANT TO KNOW WHERE YOUR ORIGINAL BODY IS!"

"WHY WOULD I TELL YOU, ANYWAY! YOU THINK I WANT A BRAT LIKE YOU KNOWING WHERE MY ORIGINAL BODY IS! DO YOU THINK I'M SOME KIND OF IDIOT, ELRIC!"

Anger was welling up inside Ed, and he could hardly contain it, but he calmed himself down. "What do you think I'd do with it! I wouldn't do anything! God, you're something, Pri—" Alphonse slapped his metal hand over his brother's mouth.

For a while, Sin was silent. Then, "Finish what you were saying, Elric." She whispered.

"You're something, Sin—"

"No." she interrupted him. "You called me by my _other_ name. Use it since you see fit."

"Pride," he whispered the word. "You're something. You think you're unstoppable, but, in truth, you're as weak as any of us! You told us that when Dante dug up your remains and tried to kill you with them, you were turned human. So now, you're just as weak as Al or I!"

Sin shook her head. "So wrong, Ed. You haven't been paying attention, have you?" there was a confused look painted on Ed's face. "As time went on, the red stones inside of me began to regenerate, and now, I am a full-fledged homunculus."

Ed sat abruptly. "Tell us everything." He demanded.


	7. Details

"I've already told you everything—"

"I mean details. You only told us how you were created, and how you were destroyed. We don't care about that. We want to know what happened in between; like how you became associated with the military." Sin sat, finally and held her head in her palms.

"Do you remember the stranger that I told you about?"

"The one who saved you?" asked Al, innocently.

"Yes, Al, the one who saved me. He was in the military. When he found me, it was raining, and I was dying. He took me to Central, where some automail experts could look at my body structure and determine how to redesign my body with their automail. As it turned out, the man who had saved me was a State Alchemist, and once he found out my origin, he insisted that I take the exam to become a State Alchemist. I had no intention of becoming one of the military's dogs, especially since I had spent over two hundred years of my life avoiding and defeating them. But, as Fate would have it, the military threatened me: either work for them undercover, or go to jail for the rest of my humane life.

"I had no choice. I became an undercover agent for the military."

Both brothers were silent, then Ed spoke. "What made you so special…?" he murmured.

"Excuse me?"

"What made you so special that you were called the leader of the homunculi? I mean, every homunculus has its own special power. Lust can extend any part of her body, Envy can shape-shift, Greed could change his skin into any different surface, Gluttony can eat any human with one gulp, Wrath can transform his body into anything, and Sloth transforms into water. What could Pride do?"

Sin was very quiet, then she whispered, "I can bend the air around me to do whatever I want it to do."

"You mean telekinesis?" inquired Al.

"Yes, Al. The proper term is telekinesis, but when you look at it from an alchemist's point of view—"

"It's just a matter of bending the air molecules into a definite shape quickly to make it seem as if you are hurling a person across the room, but in reality, the air molecules are just pushing the person along at a very fast rate." Concluded Ed.

Sin nodded, impressed. "Very good, Ed. Of course, I didn't expect any less from the famous Fullmetal Alchemist."

"Don't try to butter me up," he said coldly, folding his arms. "I'm just stating the obvious."

Sin grunted. "All right," She stood. "Then let's see how you plan to stop it." She waved a hand and Ed was thrown across the room again. He slammed into the brick wall behind him.

"THAT WAS ANYTHING BUT FAIR!" he raged. Sin just shrugged.

"I'm trying to see if you can live up to your reputation, Fullmetal." She said the name almost mockingly.

Ed growled to himself, stood up, and brushed the dust particles off of his red jacket. "I'm ready for you this time!" he told her.

Sin lifted an eyebrow and waved her hand again. But this time, Ed clapped his hands together, slapped them onto the ground, and a brick wall appeared in front of him.

When Sin realized what was going to happen, it was too late. The force hit the brick with amazing power, and every single one of the bricks in the wall was hurled out of its place. All of them were going right towards Ed, so Sin reached out with her mind and started to make the bricks slow down until they were at a halt. One was only mere inches from Ed's nose when Sin relaxed and all of the bricks dropped.

"What the hell do you think you were doing!" Sin demanded, out of breath. "I would have thought that you would have had more sense than to have a brick wall in front of you with almost a ton of force coming at you at, at least, fifty miles per hour!"

"Wow!" exclaimed Al. "That was amazing, Sin! I've never seen anyone able to control molecules like that!"

"That's because no one's ever been able to." Ed said quietly. "That's some interesting power you've got there, Sin,"

"Thank—"

"But I have to ask," he added. "How are you able to use alchemy?" everyone was silent for a moment. "Wrath is only able because he has my arm and leg, but why can you use alchemy?"

"You know…I have to ask the same question, Sin." Al piped up.

Sin lowered her gaze to the concrete floor. "The red stones."

"Red stones?" Ed repeated.

Sin nodded. "You remember me telling you that the red stones that Dante gave me were faulty, don't you, Ed?"

He nodded.

"The stones weren't faulty in just one way, boys, they were faulty in several different ways. For one, I could control the most delicate molecule known to alchemists: the air molecule. Also, when the red stones left my body, I was only human, not a dead carcass. I could also feel all kinds of different human emotions, like greed, blood-lust, gluttony, pride, anger, sorrow, friendliness…even love." She lifted her golden gaze to look upon Ed, who quickly averted his gaze. "It is human emotion that gives us alchemic powers, Ed. The reason that the homunculi cannot normally use alchemy is because they do not feel normal human emotion. All they feel is their assigned Sin. Lust can not feel normal love, only lust. Greed, as he admitted, only wanted everything for himself. Envy cannot feel anything but the want for something that someone else has.

"But I was different. I did not only feel pride, but other human emotions. This was because the red stones that Dante had given me had not fully taken over all of my human genes. I don't know exactly what the fault was in the stones, but whatever it was, I'm thankful for it."

"As well you should be," came a voice from Sin's open apartment door. Al and Ed turned around and Sin looked up to see Colonel Mustang leaning in the doorway.

"Colonel," Sin stood abruptly to attention, and Al and Ed straightened to mirror Sin.

"At ease," ordered Mustang. All three relaxed. The colonel's brown gaze scanned the ruined apartment. "What happened here?"

"Sir, we arrived here not an hour ago, and the homunculus Lust was conversing with Sin." Ed told the colonel, whose eyes darted to the homunculus. "We fought her, but Lust escaped."

"I see," murmured Mustang. "And what of the brick wall?" he motioned to the crumbled bricks lying in a pile.

"That, Sir," Ed spoke again. "Was my fault. I demanded a test of Sin's alchemic abilities, and made the wrong decision of defense."

"Without a doubt." his voice was cold. He turned to Sin. "May I speak to you for a moment, please?" he turned to the Elric brothers. "In private?"

Sin nodded, as did the brothers, and they left. Sin and Mustang were left alone in the small, ruined apartment together.


	8. The Stranger

"What exactly were you thinking!" he growled. "You know you are not allowed to converse with any of the homunculi. Do you know how much trouble you could get yourself into by allowing Lust to escape!"

"Frankly, Sir, if I hadn't have allowed her to stay for just a little while, I wouldn't have been able to slip a tracking device onto her person." She said solemnly. Mustang was slightly taken aback.

"You slipped a tracking device onto her person…?"

Sin closed her eyes. "Yes, Sir. I threw her against the wall with my abilities, thus activating one, possible two, of my air-borne molecular tracking devices. They are impossible to identify, even by the strongest alchemic means."

"I see…" he whispered. "Still…you took a great risk, Kraya." Sin's eyes flew open at the mention of her name. Mustang brushed a lock of pitch-black hair from her pale white face with a gloved hand. "Remember, Kraya, you are not the homunculus you once were; never forget that. If you do, it could be the end of you. Even though Lust cannot overpower you, _she_ can." Sin tensed. She knew who Mustang was talking about. "You don't have to act brave in front of me, Kraya. I know the real you, the _human_ you. I _was_ the one who found you that rainy day in the back alley, wasn't I?"

"You were new to the Military then," she whispered.

He nodded. "It was only my first month in the Military, and finding you was not part of my assignment that day."


	9. Memory

"You were a private back then, I remember…"

Mustang nodded.

_Flashback_

_A young man was running outside in a royal blue military uniform at attention. Rain poured down the sides of his face, but it did not even faze him at all. He still kept his focus and composure._

_He had been chasing a runaway for at least an hour, using all of the alchemy his training had taught him to stop the criminal from escaping. Finally, he heard movement around the corner in an alleyway in the back of a butcher's shop. At last… the young man thought._

"_You're cornered." He called from his safe place around the corner from the alleyway. "There's no use trying to run." The young man pulled out his gun and turned the corner, aiming it right at the place where he had heard the movement, then he froze._

_The movement was not from the criminal he had been chasing, but from a car driving away from the alley. It sped out of the alley, nearly hitting the young man, who quickly lunged to one side, clearing the way for the car to travel. The young man got up and straightened his military jacket._

Damnit_. He thought. _The colonel is going to have my hide…I pointed my gun at innocents._ The young man's name tag read Mustang. Mustang sighed and was about to leave when he heard a moan from a dark corner of the alleyway. He whirled around and aimed his gun at the moaning corner._

_In the corner was the naked body of a young girl, though you could hardly call it a body. All of its limbs were cut off, thrown aimlessly aside into a single pile of flesh and blood. Mustang edged near the stump of the girl, his gun still aimed at her head. When the moaning came again, he realized that the girl was still alive. He quickly knelt down on one knee to feel her pulse, and when he felt it, he gasped._

"_Y-You're alive!" the girl tried to turn her head, but only succeeded in lifting it halfway before it fell on its own. Her eyes met his._

_She had a beautiful golden gaze that did not seem human at all to Mustang. Her entire body was the palest shade of white that Mustang had ever seen, and her lips were blue from the cold. She had raven-black hair that fell in a black cascade beside her head. She was shivering uncontrollably, so Mustang ripped off his military jacket and covered her naked form with it, trying to keep her considerably warm. Rivers of blood flowed out of each of her mutilated stumps and stained Mustang's jacket._

_Mustang looked around frantically, trying to see if anyone was nearby. "Help! Somebody! We need help!" he called, but he knew that no one would be around here. Even the butcher's shop was closed today._

_Mustang looked back at the girl and gingerly picked her up into his immense, masculine arms. "Hang on," he whispered into her ear, and he took off running towards Central._

"You were near death," Mustang's voice cut through Sin's memory.

She nodded. "You carried me all the way to Central."

_Mustang was panting, the girl in his arms, and the rain soaking him to the bone. He rushed up the marble steps that led to the large wooden doors of Military Central. He burst through the doors and kept on running. He ran past the eyes of the colonels, the sergeants, the majors, the brigadier generals, all the way to the Hospital Wing._

_When he reached the Hospital Wing, Mustang hurried to one of the doctors that he knew so well._

"_P-Please…" he panted. "I found her…an alleyway off of Main and Central…she's still alive…" the doctor's eyes lit up when he saw the stump of the girl. _

"_Come this way," he ordered, and led Mustang to the operating room. "Set her down here," Mustang did as he was ordered. "Now you must leave." Several other doctors filed into the operating room and crowded around the girl. Mustang started to object, but thought against it and left the operating room and went to the waiting room to sit down. _

_The doctors worked for hours. Every so often, shrieks of pain could be heard from the operating room, which told Mustang that they were working on giving the girl some limbs. After a while, Mustang's colonel came in and sat down by him._

"_I heard you had a pretty traumatic day, Private," came the colonel's gruff voice. Mustang looked down. "Perhaps you should go home, son. There's nothing more you can do for her. It's all up to those damn doctors now."_

"_I want to stay with her, Sir," replied Mustang, his eyes fixed on the carpet floor. "She was obviously killed in that alleyway and left for dead by someone who really wanted her gone. I want to know who it was." Another scream came from the room._

"_I'm only hoping that she survives the surgery. The Rockwells are amazing automail technicians, but four limbs all on the same body…I don't know if even they can do it."_

"_She's strong enough to survive it, Sir, I can feel it." The colonel stared at the young private. "I really can't explain it, Sir, but…I just feel like…like I was _meant_ to find her. Like I was _meant_ to be in that alleyway today."_

_The colonel patted Mustang on the back. "You did well today, Private. Take the rest of the day off and stay with the girl. Update me on how she's doing after the surgery, understood?"_

"_Yessir." He saluted and sat back down as the colonel left. Yet another scream sounded from the operating room. _

"I didn't know if you were going to make it or not." Colonel Mustang said. "Like my colonel at the time said, the Rockwells were very good automail technicians, but you were their hardest task yet."

Sin grinned. "That pain was worse than any I'd ever experienced in my entire lifetime. But I'm thankful to them for getting these machines attached to me, or else I could never have done for the military what I have done for it." A thought crossed her mind. "What ever happened to the Rockwells, anyway?"

Mustang quickly turned away, a grim look on his face. "They were transferred. Don't dwell on it."

Sin sighed. "I remember what happened when I was through with the surgery. Do you?"

Mustang nodded. "Oh, yes, I do. I could never forget that."

_Private Mustang opened the door to Recovery to find the girl in a hospital bed at the very back of the room, Mrs. Rockwell tending to her IV in her chest._

"_Hello,Dr. Rockwell. How are you today?"_

"_Quite well, Roy, and yourself? My husband told me that you were the one who found this girl. Is it true?" Roy nodded. "You poor thing," she touched his shoulder affectionately. "How are you taking it?"_

_Mustang shrugged. "I truly don't know how to take it, Dr. Oh, how is little Winrey doing?"_

_Mrs. Rockwell's face lit up with joy. "Oh, Winrey's doing fine. I just came back to work, myself, three days ago."_

_Roy nodded and turned back to the girl. "So, how's she doing, Dr.?"_

_Suddenly, Dr. Rockwell's face grew grim. "There's something I need to show you, Roy," she pulled out a handful of papers from the girl's folder. "There is no record of her existing. Apparently, the girl with the same name as her died almost two hundred-fifty years ago, but that's all the information that we have on the name that she gave us."_

"_And what name is that?"_

"_Kraya Ami'ish. It's a common Russian name, Ami'ish, but Kraya is a Latin name. It is very strange that two girls should have the exact same name."_

"_Are there any identifying marks on her body, by any chance?"_

_Dr. Rockwell grew silent. "Only one…and I think you will be very surprised when I show you this." Roy stepped closer as the doctor gently brushed back some of Kraya Ami'ish's black hair that clung to her pasty face._

_Mustang drew back when he saw what was hidden underneath the hair. _

_On the side of Kraya Ami'ish's neck was a mark that he knew all too well. A bright red serpent encircling three equally red triangles, each connected into their triangle shape by a single dot. It was the sign of the homunculi._

_Mustang and the doctor turned to face each other. Both were deathly silent. Then, Mustang spoke._

"_She is a homunculus." He said with much foreboding. "Kill her and get it over with." He turned to go, but an automail hand had grabbed his blue military jacket. When he turned to see who it was that had stopped him, Mustang's black eyes met two golden cat-like ones._

"_P-Please…" pleaded the homunculus. "I…I will help you…find the others…" Mustang and Dr. Rockwell exchanged glances before turning back to the girl. _

"_If you talk to my colonel, he may spare your life, but he may not. I have no guarantees, understood?"_

_Ami'ish did not have the strength to nod or speak, so she mouthed, "Yes, Private Roy Mustang…"_

_Mustang whirled around, gave a polite nod to Dr. Rockwell, and left the room. He headed to the locker room, and when he was there, he took off his jacket, removed his State Alchemist's watch and name tag, and dropped it into a tin bucket of water and soap so that the bloodstains would wash out. Then he went to one of the sinks and stared at himself in the mirror._

A homunculus…_ thought Mustang. He shook his head and splashed his face with water. _And to think…she almost had me…It doesn't matter anymore,_ he told himself. _She's going to be dead in about an hour. The colonel will never allow her to live just because she has a few of the homunculi's names._ Mustang went to his locker and entered the combination. He took out his spare military jacket and slung it on. He attached his name tag and put his State Alchemist's watch into a pocket. Once he was done, Mustang slammed his locker shut and headed to the Hospital Wing where he knew that his colonel would be interrogating the homunculus._

_The colonel was already interrogating Kraya Ami'ish when the private arrived. He quietly slipped into the room and stood behind the colonel, who was sitting in a chair on the left side of the homunculus' hospital bed. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Rockwell were standing close to Kraya's bed._

_Kraya did not look any better than she had a few hours ago, when Mustang had brought her into Central. Her face and neck were still deathly pale, and she looked as if she had not eaten in months. Her ebony hair clung to her face and her yellow orbs were without any soul at all._

"_Are you listening to me at all, homunculus!" the private snapped back into reality at the tone of the colonel's voice, but Kraya would not come out of her daze. Then, slowly, her eerie-yellow eyes slunk lazily to look at the colonel._

"_I am listening, Colonel Samuel Howard Macey." Her voice was tired, yet had unseen power to it. "But my name is not 'homunculus', though it may be my breed. My name is Pride." Mustang flinched. "You may call me Kraya Ami'ish, if you find it less horrid, Private Roy Mustang."_

_Colonel Macey leaned towards Pride. "I could have you killed, Pride, do you know that?"_

"_And what makes you think, Colonel Samuel Howard Macey, that I do not want to die?"_

_The colonel was silent._

"_What makes you think that I would not kill myself even if you did set me free?" again, the colonel had nothing to say. Pride seemed to be amused by this. She looked down again. "I have been alive for nearly two hundred and fifty years, Colonel, and I have done things that would make even you want to die after just hearing them. I have sinned greatly against mankind. I want nothing more to do with the homunculi, Colonel Samuel Howard Macey, that I promise to you. All I want now is to die, nothing more." The homunculus turned to Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Rockwell and smiled weakly. "Your automail is remarkable, and I shall never forget your kindness, but I believe that your hard work has gone to terrible waste."_

"_Not necessarily," all eyes turned to Mustang. _

"_How do you figure, Private?" asked the colonel._

"_Well, Sir…Kraya Ami'ish…she could be a powerful aspect to the Military, Sir,"_

_Colonel Macey groaned. "I cannot believe that I am hearing this from you, Private! She is a creature, a horrible, malevolent creature! Do you really want a creature to be in the Military!"_

"_Sir, if you would please hear me out…?" the colonel calmed somewhat. "Thank you, Sir. I agree that Ami'ish has done very horrible things, but think about it, Sir. With her abilities, Ami'ish could go undercover for us in Ishbal, or even back in with the homunculi—"_

"_No," stated Kraya bluntly. "I will not go back to them, not ever." her eyes were pleading with Mustang. "They kicked me out. They were the ones who cut off my limbs and left me for dead. I will not ever go back to them."_

"_It could be a trick, Private," Colonel Macey pointed out. "She could be playing us so that we do let her join the Military and then she can be a spy for the homunculi!"_

"_DID YOU NOT HEAR ME?" screamed Pride. "I WILL NEVER GO BACK TO THE HOMUNCULI, DO YOU UNDERSTAND! I WILL NEVER GO BACK WITH THEM!" she calmed down a bit, then said, "You have no idea what they have done to me, Colonel Samuel Howard Macey…they made me a monster, and I was their leader." Everyone in the room was deathly silent. "That's right…I was their leader. Pride of the Seven Deadly Sins. I was worshipped by all of them as all-knowing, all-seeing, and all-healing. And then the one that controlled all of our lives…she became jealous of my power. So she drove me to that alleyway behind the butcher's shop and she cut off my limbs. Then she left me for dead. I want nothing more than to destroy the homunculi…to destroy _her_."_

"That was when you made me join the Military." Sin stated, a weak smile painted on her face.

"We never _made_ you join the Military—"

"Bullshit, Mustang. Colonel Macey told me that I could either join the Military or die. And when I said that I would die, he told me that I would not be dying, and that I would be joining the Military with or without my consent. You were there, so don't try to deny it."

Mustang smirked. "You have come a long way, Sin. At first, everyone in the Military resented you because you were once homunculi, but as time progressed…"

"…I began to gain everyone's trust. But…did they really trust me, or were they scared of my power?"

The colonel laughed. "That was more than likely it." He stepped nearer to her and touched the homunculus symbol on the right side of her soft neck. Their eyes met and slowly, Mustang leaned down and kissed Sin's soft lips. He gently pushed her against a wall and kissed her up and down her neck. Sin pulled his mouth back up to hers and they kissed again, this time with even more passion. Finally and reluctantly, Mustang gently pulled away. "I must go now, Sin." He said. "Continue to guide the Elric brothers along, as you have been doing. I believe that they will need you in the upcoming times."

Sin saluted, and Mustang returned the salute. "Goodbye, Sir." And Mustang left the small apartment.


	10. A Lot to Do

As Mustang left, Ed and Al reentered the room.

"What was that about?" Ed asked, gesturing over his shoulder to the already departed Mustang.

"Nothing," Sin murmured. "Go back to your hotel and get to sleep." She ordered. "We have a long few days ahead of us."

Suddenly, there was a loud grumble. All turned to Ed.

He shrugged. "What? I'm hungry! I haven't eaten in days!"

Sin rolled her eyes and went to her kitchen. "I don't exactly require sustentation by food, but it tastes good, so I eat it every once in a while." Sin opened her cupboard.

Ed started drooling. She had rice, noodles, curry cakes, bread, and different types of meats. Sin got out the rest of the food that she had and Ed devoured it all within the hour.

Once Ed was done stuffing himself, Sin sent them back to their hotel. It was true that they had a very long next few days ahead of them, and they needed all of the rest that they could get. As she shut the door behind the two Elric brothers, Sin leaned on the door and grunted.

"You really can't take a hint, can you, Lust?" Sin readied herself for another battle, but then she noticed that the air molecules were different around this homunculus.


	11. A Sinister Plan

Lust jumped onto a nearby rooftop just after escaping from Sin's destructive grasp. _She almost got me…_

"Lust?" a cackle sounded from behind her. Lust rolled her eyes and turned around to see Gluttony behind her. The short, plump homunculus had been waiting for her, drooling over himself as always.

"Come, Gluttony," she instructed, jumping to another rooftop. "We must tell the others about our little friend." Gluttony followed her like a puppy-dog.

"Has Pride come back to us, Lust?" he asked.

"Not yet," she answered, her silky voice droning on. "But she will be…soon. Very soon, I might add."

"Good," he cackled. "I miss Pride…"

"Oh, yes…she is missed by everyone." Lust said, disgust filling her tone. "Now hurry up," she jumped from rooftop to rooftop, speeding on towards the homunculi hideout.

It was almost midnight by the time that Lust and Gluttony made it across the desert from Krayensburg to the other desert city of Lior. They slunk around in the streets until they came to the City Hall, where the doors opened without their command.

"Get inside," a hushed voice said from the darkness inside the doors. Lust entered the City Hall, Gluttony following behind her.

Inside the City Hall of Lior, Lust and Gluttony found themselves with two of the remaining homunculi. One was a small boy of only about ten or so. The other was a young woman. She wore her long hair pulled out of her face with a headband and also wore gloves with the fingers cut out. Her top only covered the top half of her torso, and her shorts were very short.

"Where have you been?" she asked, her tone full of impatience.

Lust rolled her eyes. "What does it matter? I'm here now, Envy. No need to get your shorts in a bundle." Lust took her seat on a large chair near the center of the vast hall. Gluttony soon followed her.

"You're late! You were only supposed to see King Bradley and come back to Lior! What were you doing that kept you two days?" the woman, Envy, continued ranting.

"I was visiting an old friend," she replied simply.

"Would you mind telling us who?" a girl of about fifteen or so stepped out of the shadows of a corner in the hall. Her violet eyes shone with power and control.

"D-Dante…" Lust quickly got up from the throne-like chair. The girl, apparently Dante, replaced Lust on the throne.

"I asked you a question, Lust," she snapped.

Lust turned away. "I visited Pride." Gasps sounded from each homunculi.

Dante frowned. "You shouldn't have bothered with that monster."

"She could be a powerful ally, Dante. If only you would consider—"

"Ally?" All of the homunculi cringed at the volume of their master's voice. "Ally…?" she repeated, much softer. Dante grinned sinisterly. "Very good, Lust. That is a very good idea."

"Pride knows that she can never escape the homunculi's grasp. She is forever bound to you, Dante."

Dante nodded. "Yes, she is, my Lust, yes, she is." Dante looked back up to all of her homunculi. "We need Pride back," She said simply. "And I know just how to get her back." She rose from her seat and went to a small table tucked away into a corner. She opened various drawers, as if to find something.

"Dante?" asked the boy. "What are you doing?"

Dante opened the final drawer and smirked as she took out a small vial of a clear liquid. "Looking for this, my Wrath." She headed back towards the homunculi. The boy, called Wrath, stood and met Dante halfway.

"What is it?" he asked.

"This, my Wrath, is what will bring Pride home, to us."

Wrath smiled. "Good. I want to meet this Pride."

"You would have loved her, kid," Envy told him. "She destroyed everything, always killing _someone_. I miss her a lot."

"I miss Pride, too," Gluttony chimed in.

"Wait," Lust called. She turned to Dante. "You wanted her dead. That was why you turned her human and cut off all of her limbs and left her for dead. So why do you want her back to the one place that you tried to get her out of?"

Dante smiled and walked over to Lust. "My dear Lust," she placed a hand on Lust's cheek. "It was you who suggested it. I agreed to it because Pride is much stronger than you or any of my other creations will be."

Lust could feel the anger billing up inside of her.

"What is this? Anger?" Dante slapped Lust across the face. "Did I feel something other than lust emitting from you? Now this is unacceptable, Lust." She grabbed Lust's chin and jerked it to face her. "I created you, and I can destroy you. Don't make me destroy my Lust. I can't do much without her." Dante released Lust's chin and turned back to the rest of the homunculi.

Dante held up the bottle of clear liquid. "This, my darlings, is what makes all of you connected to me."

Lust's eyes widened. _So that means…!_

"Now, Pride was my first, so, I didn't do my best job on her, like I should have. But this time, I won't mess up. One of you must place a drop of this onto her homunculus mark on the right side of her neck, just below her ear. Once the liquid touches the mark, Kraya 'Sin' Ami'ish will be no more, and our Pride will be back, but with one small difference:" Dante gazed at the vial. "She will be under my control."

Envy stepped forward. "I'll do it, Dante. The old Pride remembers me—"

"The old Pride isn't the one that you would have to overcome." Dante pointed out. "No, we need someone who can infiltrate easily and stay inside."

"I will do it," Lust suggested.

"Now, Lust," Dante droned. "She is bored of you, and will not listen to anything that you would have to say."

"What about someone that she has never met before?" asked a voice from the shadows. The speaker revealed itself to be a woman with long black hair and soft aqua-blue eyes.

"Sloth," Lust murmured distastefully.

Dante smiled. "Perfect. You're perfect, Sloth."

Sloth smirked ever so slightly and turned to Lust, as if to show off her triumph.

"Dante, Pride is working with the Elric Brothers," Lust revealed. "There is no way that a homunculus with such little experience could possibly—"

"Her working with the Elric Brothers is even more of a reason why I should go, Lust," Sloth pointed out. "I can get inside their emotions, cloud their judgment. It will be even easier to get to Pride with them around. I have no doubt that she knows of me and my connection with those two. Surely you see that, Lust?"

"I agree with Sloth," Dante cut in. She turned back to Sloth. "You will go to Pride and administer this," she handed the homunculus the vial of clear liquid. "How do you intend to get close to her, if I may ask?"

"Through her obsession with Greed," Sloth answered, taking the vial.

"But Greed is long past dead—" started Lust.

"And Pride's obsession with that newly-dead corpse is what will make her weak enough for me to slip this onto her mark." Sloth held up the vial to make her point. "It will be easy, enough."

"Yes," Envy chimed in. "Seeing as Greed was the one who killed her beloved…oh, what was his name? Hamley? No…Hans?"

"No, it was a Russian name," Gluttony commented.

"Hansel." Lust stated. "His name was Hansel."

"Oh, yeah. Hansel." Envy continued. "Greed killed her beloved Hansel, that was why she went on that rant about killing him brutally."

"Exactly," Sloth said, making her point. "If she were to find out that Greed was killed by Edward Elric—"

"She would be horribly sad," Wrath realized.

"And you will be there to comfort her," concluded Dante. "Go," she said to Sloth. "Try to make it back by tomorrow afternoon. It shouldn't be too hard for you. The potion will render her unconscious, and when she wakes up…she'll be under my control." Sloth nodded. She uncorked the vial and drank all of it.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Lust demanded. "Now Pride doesn't have anything to drink—"

"You worry too much, Lust." Sloth laughed. "I am, quite literally, liquid. Because I drank that _liquid_, it is now apart of me. Therefore, if I but touch Pride's homunculus mark, it would be the same as if I touched the liquid itself to the mark." She turned back to Dante. "I will be back by tomorrow afternoon, Dante." And Sloth left the City Hall, and then left the desert city of Lior and headed to the other desert city of Krayensburg.


	12. Put the Plan to Action

Sin turned around to see not Lust, but another homunculus. Sin frowned. "You're not Lust…"

"Very perceptive." The homunculus was a woman and her voice very much resembled Lust's.

"Wait…" Sin was starting to remember what she had heard from Mustang. "You're…You're Ed and Al's…" she glared at the homunculus. "You're Sloth, aren't you?"

"Oh, you've heard about me! I'm blushing, really, I am. The great and powerful Pride knows who I am."

"What the hell are you doing here, Sloth?"

Sloth flipped her black hair behind her shoulder. "What every mother does, Pride," she looked at the closed door. "Looking after my children."

Sin approached Sloth and grabbed her by the neck with one of her strong, automail hands. "You lost the right to be their mother when you joined the homunculi, Sloth."

"Oh, Pride, don't be so cruel." Sloth took hold of Sin's arm and pushed it away easily. "I came a very long way to see you."

"So the homunculi aren't in Krayensburg?"

Sloth laughed. Like Lust's laugh, it was horrible, almost like hearing fingernails screeching on a hard and glossy surface. "Do you honestly think that I would tell you, Pride?"

Sin glared at her. "Stop calling me that," she murmured.

"What? Do you not like being called 'Pride' anymore?"

"I said," Sin thrust her arm out into the air and Sloth was hurled against the wall across from Sin's bed. "Stop calling me that!"

Sloth regained her composure and frowned. "Fine, fine…what do you go by now? Kraya?"

Sin clenched her fists. "You have NO right to call me by my birth name."

"Your birth name, as far as Dante is concerned, is Pride." Sloth saw that Sin was beginning to fume, so she quickly added, "But you go by 'Sin' now, don't you?"

"Let's cut the crap, Sloth," Sin said through clenched teeth. "And figure out the real reason why you came to see me."

Sloth sighed. "Like I said, Sin, I have a right to check on my boys." She started to look around Sin's apartment.

"And like _I_ said, Sloth, you lost that right when you joined the homunculi."

"It's not a _choice_, Sin, and you know it." Sloth's voice was harsher now. "You never _chose_ to be associated with Dante, did you?"

"No," Sin admitted. "But I was different—"

"Oh, I know that you were different, Sin," Sloth resumed poking around Sin's belongings. "Lust and Envy told me all about you; the homunculus with a _heart_, with _emotion_…" her voice was filled with nostalgia. "Tell me, Sin…What is it like to have emotion? How does it feel to…_feel_?"

Sin looked down. "Much like it felt to be human, actually." She looked back up at Sloth and glared at her. "But the powers are a big plus."

Sloth chuckled. "Oh, yes, I can imagine so; especially with powers as great and terrible as yours. Tell me, can you still manipulate the air molecules to do as you please?"

Sin rolled her eyes. She was getting tired of this very quickly. Sin waved her hand lazily and Sloth followed its path, slamming into the wall once again. "Is that a good enough answer for you, Sloth?"

The homunculus gathered herself together and stood facing Sin. "Why are you always so cruel, Sin?"

"Because you get on my nerves," Sin growled and readied her hand to hurl Sloth across the room again, but suddenly, Sloth literally turned into a puddle of water.

Sin laughed. "Oh, Sloth," she said, still laughing. "When will you learn that nothing the homunculi do surprise me anymore?" the smile vanished from Sin's face. She clapped her hands together and slammed them to the ground. Electricity shocked the water molecules and the water exploded all over the room. The water slowly began to gather itself back together in the form of Sloth.

Sloth shuddered. "That didn't feel too nice," she commented.

Sin readied her hand again. "Then I wouldn't try to surprise me anymore. You'll only get yourself hurt."

"You amaze me, Sin," The water homunculus started to circle around Sin. Sin countered Sloth's movement so that they were both walking in opposite directions in a circle.

"How so?"

"I have never met you before this day; not once. But somehow, I feel as if in these past few minutes, we've grown to be like sisters."

Sloth's sweet tone disgusted Sin. "Oh really? Well, I beg to differ."

Sloth laughed her horrid laugh once more. "We're not so different, you and I. Dante told me all about your precious…what was his name…? Oh, yes…_Hansel_." Sin sent Sloth flying across the room yet again. Once she gathered herself together, Sloth grinned sinisterly. "It seems that I have struck a nerve."

Sin's fists were clenched into tight balls of metal. "Don't you DARE talk about him!" she screamed.

"Who? _Hansel_?"

Sin cringed, rage pulsing through her veins.

"Hansel and Kraya…oh, how sweet,"

"I'm giving you ten seconds to get the hell out of my apartment, Sloth."

"Or what?" Sloth put her hands on her hips.

"One."

"You'll kick me out by force?"

"Two."

"Oh, don't be like this, Sin—"

"Three."

"I'll tell you the real reason I came here."

"Seven."

"What? You can't skip four, five, and six and go straight to seven!"

"Eight."

"Don't you want to know the real reason I came?"

"Nine."

"Sin, don't be like this."

"Ten. Time's up, Sloth." Sin's fist cackled with electricity.

"Greed's dead, Sin!" the electricity instantly halted.

"Wh…What did you say…?"

"You heard me, Sin. Greed is dead. Edward Elric slew him. Brutally. Need I say more?"

Sin's eyes darted around, as if looking for help. "N-No…Greed…he wouldn't die so easily…"

"He didn't." Sloth stepped closer to Sin. "I watched it happen. He fought bravely, but in the end, Edward Elric prevailed."

Sin looked up at Sloth, her eyes glowing with rage. "You're lying…"

Sloth shook her head as she neared Sin. "I'm not. If you don't believe me, ask Edward and Alphonse Elric. They should be able to tell you how they murdered your Greed."

"He…He was mine to kill…" Tears started to leak from Sin's eyes. She stared at them in her hands. _Wh…Why does his death have so much of a hold on me? Why? I didn't love him…I only wanted to kill him… He killed my…my…my Hansel… HE KILLED MY HANSEL!_

"I know, my Pride…I know…" Sloth pulled Sin close to her body and the two sat there, Sin wrapped up in Sloth's folds. _I have her exactly where I want her._ Sloth bent her head down and softly licked the skin just below Sin's right ear; exactly where her homunculus mark was tattooed.

Sin froze. Her breathing stopped, and the gleam left her golden eyes. Her body slunk lifelessly against Sloth.

Sloth sighed and picked up the unconscious homunculus in her arms. "My poor Pride," she said. "You must be feeling exhausted. Let's go to Lior. You will find it most suiting." With that, Sloth took off back to Lior, Sin lying unconscious in her arms.


	13. ChitChat

Back in Lior, the homunculi were becoming impatient. Wrath was sitting restlessly against a wall, fiddling with his hair. Lust was leaning up against the throne, upon which Dante sat. Envy was pacing around the hall.

"Where are they?" Envy asked no one in particular. "It's already eleven thirty. She was supposed to be back at noon with Pride, so _where is she_?"

Lust sighed in annoyance. "Will you stop, Envy? She'll be back. And she'll have your precious Pride with her." Envy stopped pacing to look at Lust.

"What's this I'm sensing? Jealousy?"

"Oh, no, Envy, not jealousy. Just annoyance, is all."

"Enough, you two." Dante commanded. "Sloth will be back. I control her. She must obey me, for her life depends on it."

As if on cue, a puddle of liquid appeared from under the hall's doors. The puddle formed itself into Sloth carrying Sin in her arms.

"About time," Envy murmured.

Dante rose from her seat and approached Sloth. She took one look at Sin and smiled. "You have done very well, Sloth. Set her down over here." Dante led Sloth over to a small bed next to the desk and Sloth set Sin onto it. Dante and all of the homunculi stared at the sleeping Sin.

"Well?" Envy was the first to speak. "What do we do now?"

"We wait until she wakes up." Dante answered and walked back to her throne.

"I will stay with her," Sloth opted. "Someone must be here when she wakes up."

Dante nodded. "Very well. Everyone else, mind your own business and do not get caught up in Pride's business." The homunculi nodded obediently, and Dante got up from her throne. "I am going to go take a nap in my room." She turned to Lust. "Watch me sleep, Lust," she commanded, and stepped through a door on the right side of the hall. Lust reluctantly followed.

Once Dante and Lust had left, Sloth turned to Envy.

"What was the old Pride like?" she asked.

Envy smirked with the memory of her partner in crime. "She was a lot of fun, I remember. Greed would remember most out of any of the homunculi. Then, I guess Lust would. Then Gluttony, more than likely, but…" all eyes turned to the rabid, round man. As if to answer, Gluttony began to drool out of the right corner of his mouth.

"Anyway, what about you, Envy?" Wrath piped up. "What do you remember about her?"

"Like I just said, I remember that she was a lot of fun. Everyday she went around killing innocents." A smile crept across the homunculus' face. "That was my favorite part. But I don't remember much. She was only with the homunculi a year while I was there. Oh, but apparently, she and Lust don't get along much."

Sloth nodded. "Yes, I figured as much. Whenever Dante mentions Pride, Lust becomes…dysfunctional..."

"Lust kicked Pride out!" Gluttony cackled. Sloth, Envy and Wrath turned towards him.

"What did you say?" Sloth questioned.

"Yeah, I remember something like that," Envy chimed. "When Dante made Lust, Pride began to _envy_ Lust. I guess that was when Dante first found out that Pride wasn't like the rest of us."

"Is that so…?"

"Yeah. So then Pride began to form a mind of her own. She no longer followed Dante's commands. I'll tell ya. It was bad news bears from there. That was when Dante made the decision that she was going to kill off Pride."

"But it didn't work, I imagine?"

"Yup. When Dante made the transmutation circle to kill off Pride, the faulty red stones inside Pride's body reacted."

"Faulty?"

"Yeah. Didn't you know?" Sloth shook her head. "Pride's stones weren't like ours. She _was_ Dante's first, after all. She sorta learned her lesson when it came time for her to make Greed, though. You see, Pride's red stones were of a different chemical compound than the red stones inside our bodies. It was this chemical compound that allowed Pride to experience _human_ emotion, not just pride, but others. But the compound also made it so that Pride didn't have to follow Dante's orders, unlike us. Dante holds our life in her hands, but not with Pride, oh, no. Pride held her _own_ life in her _own_ hands. That was when Dante had enough. Now, to continue, when Dante tried to kill off Pride using the transmutation circle, Pride's red stones reacted in ways that our stones would never react." Envy leaned in closer. "They made her human," she whispered.

"So that was how Pride was able to lose her limbs…"

"Yup." Envy sat back casually. "Dante cut them all off, in hopes that it would kill her. Lucky for Pride, the military got to her first."

"Oh, yes," Sloth said lazily. "That Colonel Roy Mustang. Yes, I've heard about him."

"Apparently, he was the one who found Pride and took her to Central. Then she became a State Alchemist, a dog of the military." Envy's voice was full of distaste. "That was when Pride ceased to exist, and Sin took over." The homunculus looked back at the sleeping Sin. "But now, Pride's back, and she'll kick ass like never before!"

Sloth gazed at the sleeping Sin and stroked her long, black hair. "Poor Pride," she mused. "You've been through enough. It will be good for you to not depend upon yourself as much. We will all take care of you, and you will forget how it felt to love that worthless Colonel of yours."

Envy's eyes widened. "She loved Mustang?"

Sloth nodded. "I saw them together just before the Elric Brothers left. It was very passionate. I almost didn't think that Sin had it in her to love another after Hansel was killed."

"She loved Greed, you know," Sloth frowned.

"That can't be—"

"Oh, yes it can," Envy pressed. "Lust told me that when Greed was sealed away, Pride began acting strangely. She would close her eyes and try to communicate with him somehow. It never worked, but still, she would always try."

"That doesn't necessarily mean that she loved him."

"Lust said that after Greed was released and he fled the mansion, Pride would disappear for hours on end, saying that she was finding information on the Philosopher's Stone, but everyone knew where she really was; save Dante."

"What happened then?" Wrath asked, intrigued by Envy's story.

Envy shrugged. "Lust said that Pride just stopped going out. I guess she stopped loving him, or vice versa."

"Hmm," Sloth combed through her hair with her fingertips. "Most interesting,"

"You're telling me," Envy nodded. Suddenly, a groan broke through Sin's lips. All eyes turned to her sleeping form.

"She's waking up!" Wrath exclaimed.

"No, Wrath, she's petting a puppy. OF COURSE SHE'S WAKING UP! It's not like we can't see it right now!" Envy snapped at him.

"Quiet, all of you!" Sloth ordered. "Dante, she's waking up!" the homunculus called into Dante's bedroom.

Dante, Lust following behind her, strode into her bedroom. Its wooden planked walls were bare; no pictures adorned them, only one mirror. The room was empty, save a single twin-sized bed opposite the door and a single chair next to the bed. Dante climbed into the bed and gestured Lust to sit in the chair. Lust gave Dante a glare before sitting down in the fragile, wooden chair. Dante smirked.

"Why do you fight my control, Lust?"

"I do not fight your control, Dante, I only disagree with you."

Dante cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? And what is it that you disagree with? Remember that it was your idea to bring Pride back to our control."

Lust nodded. "I remember, Dante," she murmured.

"Then what is it, my Lust? What do you disagree with?" Dante's gaze slunk lazily from Lust to the ceiling. "Is it that I sent Sloth instead of you?"

Lust froze.

"Ahhh…yes, that's what I thought…but you must understand, Lust," she turned back to the homunculus. "Pride knew you, and she resented you. Perhaps you just want a second chance with her, but Sin is _not_ Pride, and _Sin_ is the one that you visited, _not_ Pride. And now _Sin_ is bored of you. She will not listen to anything that you would have to say. But neither Sin nor Pride knew who Sloth is. Sloth was able to infiltrate Sin's emotions, tap into her consciousness, and that is exactly what I needed." She turned Lust's head to face hers. "Don't sulk about it. It isn't becoming of a homunculus like yourself."

Lust frowned. She decided to change the subject. "What do you have planned for Pride?" she asked.

Dante shrugged. "Pride was always independent—"

"But your potion will delete that…?"

"Of course, my Lust. But I am still counting on her to do things by herself, to not want much help with a mission. She is not called 'Pride' for nothing, as I'm sure you know."

Lust nodded. "I know,"

"As you are not called 'Lust' for nothing," Lust gave her another glare, but then quickly turned away. Dante laughed at her.

Suddenly, Sloth's voice was heard from far off. "Dante! She's waking up!" Dante and Lust looked at each other. Dante hurled herself out of bed and Lust bolted up out of her chair.

**_o0o0o0o0o0o0o i just looooove cliffies... keeps u guessing, doesn't it? XP well, pass ur judgment, please!_**


	14. Debris

Ed knocked on the door of Sin's apartment. "Sin!" he called. "Come on, wake up. We have a lead!" he turned to Al, standing right next to him. "That should get her up,"

When she did not come, Al said, "Or not,"

Ed snorted and jiggled the handle. "Come on, Sin, open the do—" the thin, wood door fell out of its frame and to the floor. Al folded his arms and looked at his brother.

"Good going, Big Brother," he said sarcastically.

"Al…" the suit of armor turned and looked inside the apartment. He gasped.

Sin's apartment was a total wreck. The wooden shelves that had held various books and picture frames were broken and their contents scattered about the apartment. Her bed was broken in half, and the window was wide open. As the Elric brothers stepped about the debris, Ed heard a cracking sound as he stepped. He looked down and picked up his foot to reveal a broken picture frame. It was obviously hand-drawn and hand-painted. Ed's eyes widened.

"Al!" he called to his brother. The suit of armor turned his head and went to his brother. Ed showed him the picture.

"But…But that's—"

"That's Sin, I know," Ed answered for him. It was she, but it was not. She was in an all-white background, and her hair was not in its usual French braid, but hung loosely about her shoulders. And it was brown, not the usual black color. Sin's eyes were not golden, but a soft emerald-green color instead. She wore a maroon, vintage dress with puffy, lace sleeves. And most unusual; she was smiling brightly. Ed turned the portrait over and saw words painted on the back.

"'To my beloved Kraya, From your painter, Hansel.'" He read aloud. Ed turned the portrait back over and traced Sin's outline with his forefinger then looked back around the ruined apartment.

"Where could she have gone?" he asked himself.

"Brother…" Al was kneeling close to where Ed had found the portrait. Ed saw what he was looking at. Scorch marks. There were about ten of them all around the apartment. "What do you think happened?"

"These are electricity scorch marks," Ed realized. "She was trying to electrocute something…"

"…But what?" Al finished for his brother. Ed nodded.

"The trail is long cold, Al," Ed said, getting up. "We should go. Maybe we can follow the events up to right after she left."

Al nodded. "But what if she didn't leave her apartment? What if she was attacked just after we left?"

"Then the trail is even colder than we thought. We should just follow our lead and hope it takes us to Sin."

"But shouldn't we tell someone about this? Colonel Mustang would—"

"No," Ed answered, turning his back to his younger brother.

"He and Sin know each other very well. I'm sure that he would be able to—"

"I don't want to involve Mustang." Ed said plainly. "He'll complicate things,"

"He would want to know if Sin was missing!" Ed froze. "Remember, she's an important aspect to the military, Big Brother. If Sin turned up missing and they needed her for a very important undercover mission, what would happen? No one would be able to reach her! And she could be in serious trouble!"

Ed groaned. "All right, all right!" he shouted. "I'll try to reach Mustang,"

Al stood. "Is he still in Krayensburg?"

Ed shook his head. "I don't know. He may still be here, but I highly doubt it. He's looking for a ghost." He folded the portrait and slipped into the inside pocket of his red jacket.

"What are you doing, Big Brother—"

"It's for identification. We can ask people in Lior if they've seen Sin." He explained, heading out the broken door.

"But do you really think that she'd be in Lior?" Al followed his older brother out the door.

Ed shrugged. "I have no idea. But if her informant is the same one as ours, then she'll be headed in that direction."

Al nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Lior isn't that far from here, so I bet she did go there in search of the homunculi."

"We can only hope," Ed responded.

Once outside, the two Elric brothers went to a green pay phone next to their hotel. Ed reached into his pocket. He produced two silver coins and dropped them into the coin slot. He dialed Mustang's office in Central and waited for him to pick up.

"Mustang, here." Mustang's bland tone came from the receiver.

"Colonel?"

"Ed?"

"Yeah, it's me. Listen, have you heard from Sin?"

"No, why?"

"We haven't seen her all morning, and her apartment's a wreck."

Mustang was silent, as if he was thinking.

"Sir?"

"Resume whatever you were doing. I will handle this."

"But, Sir—"

"Good day, Ed," with that, Colonel Mustang hung up the phone.

"WHAAAAT?" Ed screamed at the phone. He slammed it down onto its console and looked back up at Al. "HE HUNG UP ON ME!" he snarled.

Al held up his hands. "C-Calm down, Big Brother…" he said. "We should just go to Lior like we had planned. That store manager seemed reliable enough,"

"Al, I don't know about you, but when I talk to a person about a crucial piece of information, I expect to get at least an assurance that they've witnessed the actual event, not saying, 'Oh, a group of people dressed black were on their way to Lior, I remember.' There are a lot of people who dress in black, Al."

"But he specifically said that there was a small, round man with them and a woman with very long, black hair. So we can at least check into Lior."

Ed folded his arms. "I never said that we weren't going to Lior, I'm just saying that we shouldn't be disappointed if we find absolutely nothing."

Al nodded and started walking to the train station. "But I bet we find the homunculi,"

Ed shrugged and followed the suit of armor. "Maybe…"


	15. Awakening

Mustang slammed down his telephone just after talking with Edward Elric. He wore his usual military jacket and white flame alchemy gloves. His face was painted with a worried expression, which was very unusual for the Flame Alchemist.

_Kraya…_ he thought to himself. _What could have happened to her?_

Instantly, horrid thoughts began to zip through his already stressed mind.

_Did _she_ get to you? How could you let your guard down? You would never do that, Kraya…it's not anything like you…but where could you have gone! _He slammed his fist down onto his desk. A scorch mark instantly formed underneath his clenched fist. Mustang looked down and groaned. "Shit…that's the fourth time this week…and I have to _pay_ for it to be repaired…perfect…" he turned his thoughts back to Sin. _What happened to you, Kraya? But more importantly…if _she_ did take you, what would Dante want from you? There's no way to reverse what has been done in alchemy…_ he reminded himself. Mustang sighed. _I don't have time for everything…I need to find Kraya, but this work…_ just then, a woman of about twenty-five with blonde hair pulled back with a clip and wearing a military jacket identical to Mustang's walked through the door to Mustang's office.

"Colonel Mustang," she said very formally. "I was informed that you may need help with your many tasks."

Mustang nodded. "Yes, Lieutenant Hawkeye." He said, getting up and walking towards the door. "I do need you to assist me in my many tasks. There are forms that require approval on my desk. I will be seeing to another matter." And he left. Hawkeye stared after him.

_A young man of about thirty's face was printed into her mind. Hair was brown, and his eyes a bright amber color. his smile tore a hold through her heart as she was reminded of how it felt to see him smile._

Kraya Ami'ish stirred. She was cold, and shivering. Her teeth chattered even as she slowly awoke from her slumber. When Kraya opened her eyes, she saw only one face through the darkness around her. It was a young girl who look about sixteen or seventeen. Her fuchsia eyes looked straight to Kraya's heart and saw every single pain inside of her.

"Do you wish to rid yourself of this pain, my child?" she spoke so child-like, yet her voice held unknown power.

Kraya knew of nothing more to do than to nod. "I…" her failure to speak surprised even her. "I…I do…" she managed. The girl smiled warmly and reached out with a pale hand to touch Kraya's cheek. She pulled Kraya's face closer to her own and kissed her lightly on her delicate lips then pulled away. The darkness slowly faded, and new faces could be seen. Each of them had pitch-black hair; all except a very rotund man who was bald. There was no precise way to distinguish from each of them, only that there were two men and what appeared to be four women. One man, the round, bald one, his tongue was sprawled out over his black clothing, and the other, who was much younger, his skin color varied on his right arm and left leg. One of the women was the one from the darkness, the one who had reached out to Kraya and pulled her back into the light. Another was very tall, and her hair fell in soft waves about her pale shoulders. Her black dress showed a large amount of cleavage, and fit her impeccable form perfectly. Another woman was more petite, with wilder hair and a headband that attempted to tame it all. The last woman in black was quite like the one with soft, wavy hair, but her hair was much straighter, and she did not show near as much skin as the other did. This woman smiled warmly at Kraya.

"Hello," she said sweetly.

"Who…" Kraya started. "Who…are you…people?"

**_GASP XP_**


	16. Back In the Crowd

Each homunculus froze. Envy's mouth dropped. Wrath cocked his head ever so slightly. Gluttony continued to drool over himself. Sloth looked up at Lust, who looked to Dante on her side, whose mouth was open ever so slightly.

"I thought that the potion wouldn't disturb her memory," Lust said, folding her arms below her bust.

"So did I," the alchemist replied. "Obviously I misjudged the red stones once again." her voice heightened in anger.

Sloth looked back down at Kraya and touched the side of her face with one of her black-gloved hands and smiled. "We're here to help you, little one,"

"What are you doing?" Envy hissed inside Sloth's ear. "You're treating her as if she were only—"

"—Sixteen years old? You're right, Envy, I'm doing that because in her mind, she _is_ sixteen years old!" Sloth hissed back. She then turned her gaze back to Kraya. "You don't have to worry, my dear," she said warmly.

"Where is my family? Where is Hansel?" the questions spewed out of her mouth like lava from a volcano. Sloth silenced her by putting her forefinger over Kraya's lips.

"Do not speak," she whispered. "_We_ are your family now," Kraya's eyes started to fill with tears. Sloth sighed and pulled her into a mother-like hug, then looked up at Lust and Dante. "What will we do?" she asked.

Dante turned away. "Stop crying, girl," she barked. "You are one of us now; one of the homunculi. Leave Kraya Ami'ish behind you. Your new name will be Pride. Do you understand?"

Pride pushed out of Sloth's embrace and nodded. Dante smiled.

"A very strong girl," she commented. "Teach her how to control her powers," she directed to the homunculi. "She must learn what she forgot in a matter of days, not hundreds of years." And then she retreated to her room.

The homunculi looked at one another. Then, Envy spoke.

"Wrath, Gluttony and I are going to leave you two with Pride. Have fun with that," and the three of them walked off, leaving Lust and Sloth with Pride.

"Thanks a lot, Envy," Lust snarled in her silky tone. She turned back to Sloth. "She's your responsibility, Sloth; definitely not mine." She started to walk away, but an automail hand touched her elbow. Lust looked down to see Pride's disgusting face staring straight back at her.

"Please…" she pleaded. "Help me…"

Lust rolled her eyes and groaned. "Wonderful," she said sarcastically and turned back to Pride and Sloth, sitting on the floor. "Listen," she started, lifting a finger in warning. "I'm not going to baby you, so you'd better learn fast."

"It won't take you long, anyway," Sloth assured Pride. "It's almost like remembering a dream; you remember what it felt like to use the power, but you can only vaguely remember. Once you use the power, you never really forget it. The more you concentrate, the more you'll remember."

Pride nodded and closed her eyes tight, straining to remember anything.

Lust rolled her eyes. "Well, this is going to be fun," she said and smacked the kneeling youth on the back of her head. "You won't get anywhere that way, you idiot!"

Pride frowned and looked up at her two mentors. "Then tell me," she demanded. "Tell me how I should do this." Lust and Sloth looked at each other. "I don't want to be a burden to anyone, so I want to learn how to use my powers quickly. No one should have to protect me."

The wavy-haired homunculus chuckled mockingly. "Honey, no one would risk their neck to protect a weak, worthless and pathetic girl like you."

"Lust!" Sloth hissed.

The homunculus shrugged and started to walk away. "I'm only saying the truth."

"I think you hated me," Pride whispered, rising to her feet.

Lust froze. "Excuse me?" she turned around.

"You heard me," Pride growled. "I think you hated me when you knew me last time. That's why you're so hostile towards me."

Lust approached her fellow homunculus and only stopped when she stood, mere inches away, towering over the petite Pride. She grabbed Pride's chin and leaned down. "Perhaps you're right," she admitted silkily. "Perhaps I did hate the old Pride. I guess you could say that I like Sin better." Pride tried to look down, but Lust jerked her face back to eye level. "But you know, I think you could be quite the spitfire." She released Pride's chin and Pride jerked away. Lust turned to Sloth.

"She needs better clothes," then, to Pride, "Those masculine clothes just will not do for this crowd, I'm afraid." Lust turned away and began to walk off. "Stay alone for awhile, get to know your powers. You'll feel the past come back to you very soon. It will be painful, yet you will need to endure it in order to excel in your powers." Pride nodded, looking after Lust and Sloth as they left the room.

Sloth turned to the homunculus beside her. "Do you think that she will remember meeting the Elric brothers?"

Lust shook her head. "I don't know. She may remember up to the point when Dante cut her to pieces, but let's not hold our breath."

**_MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA! how i love this story. it's so fun to portray Kraya so many different ways. first, she's Kraya and all innocent, then she's Pride and absolutely EVIL(BOOYAAAAAH!), and then she's Sin and KICKASS!. then, it's back to being VERY EVIL! well, ENJOY THE STORY! AND KEEP R&Ring!_**

**_Shadeslayer390_**


	17. She's Baaaack

Kraya did not know what was going on. She had woken up in an alien place, not knowing a single face that had been staring down at her. And now, apparently, she was apart of this group that called themselves the 'homunculi'. It sounded more like a cult to Kraya. They each had the name of one of the Seven Deadly Sins. The round man was apparently called Gluttony, the younger boy was called Wrath, the petite woman with wild hair was Envy, the woman with curly hair Lust, and the last woman, the one with straighter black hair, she was Sloth. And now, these people had even given Kraya a name: Pride.

This cult frightened Kraya. All of the people seemed horribly cruel, save the one with straight, black hair—Sloth, Kraya thought her name was.

Kraya shook her head. _I can't be thinking about this right now!_ she reminded herself. _I have to find Hansel…he'll know what to do._ She looked around for a window. _Damnit! Why is there no window in this place?_ Kraya knelt down and slammed her fist down onto the floor. She suddenly noticed that it did not hurt her hand one bit. She looked down at her hand and found that it was entirely made of some kind of metal. _What the hell is going on!_

All of a sudden, Kraya felt a sharp pain in her left temple. Her hand flew to the side of her head and she fell to the ground, writhing in utter pain.

"What…What is…_happening_!"

Another sharp pain, and Kraya could see pictures flashing through her mind. They were so clear, almost like…_memories…_

Kraya saw a monster inside a small, wooden hut. Its eyes were bright yellow. Its ribcage was on the exterior, and its skin was rotting, almost burning off. Kraya could almost smell the stench. It smelled like rotting meat; a sickening smell that made her want to throw up. In the corner of the hut was a man, slumped down onto the floor. As Kraya looked closer, she saw that both of his eyes in his eye sockets were gone, and blood oozed out of the empty sockets. She gasped as she saw that this man…

_He was Hansel…_ she realized. _Hansel, what—_ She felt yet another sharp pain and a realization came to her from nowhere. _She_ was the monster. Kraya remembered now.

_I had fallen ill…Hansel wanted to save me, but he couldn't…I remember that after I died, he tried…he tried to bring me back using his alchemy… It was a new science…he didn't know how to work it!_ Kraya began to cry. She buried her face in her palms and sobbed as another pang brought a new memory.

It was the face of a young girl. She had spoken to Kraya then in the exact same way that the young violet-eyed girl had spoken to her just a few minutes ago. After a speech that the girl gave Kraya, Kraya had decided that she wanted to live. The girl had held out her soft hand and Kraya had eaten little red stones from it. That was when Kraya had lost consciousness.

When she had woken up, she heard the girl repeating over and over, "It went wrong, all wrong! All wrong!" Kraya had wondered, _What went wrong? What went all wrong, all wrong?_ Then she remembered…_she_ had gone wrong…_she_ had gone all wrong, all wrong. There had been something seriously flawed in her making. But, nevertheless, the girl had kept her alive. The girl had used her for so long, keeping herself alive by using an anti-aging potion every day for years and years. During that time, the girl, who had grown into an old woman by the next century, had created more beings like Kraya. She called them…_homunculus_…they each had certain powers. She had named them after the Seven Deadly Sins. Her most prized homunculi were Greed, who could change the surface of his body, and Pride, who could control the air molecules around her to do her will. Kraya had been Pride, she remembered.

Kraya could suddenly feel all of the emotions come rushing back to her. She could feel the harsh emotions that she had felt before. She felt her emotions towards Lust, and even towards Dante, their leader, their maker.

Then, Kraya remembered that day…the day in the rain…she had become too…what was it? She had become too…_too independent_…were Dante's words. So Dante 'took care' of Pride. She almost killed Pride, but the homunculus was only turned mortal, so Dante had cut off her limbs and left her for dead. And…And…

That was all that Kraya remembered. But she heard Dante's words…_"You are no longer Kraya Ami'ish…You are Pride of the Seven Deadly Sins…"_ She had heard those words more than once.

Dante had been correct. She was no longer Kraya Ami'ish. Kraya Ami'ish was dead. So was Sin. Pride, the leader of the homunculi, was back. Her memory was restored.

Pride sat up and looked around her, turning her head cautiously from side to side. She smirked. _A lot better than Russia,_ She recalled the scenery of the frostbitten country. It had been too cold, and too…too happy…for her. _Yes, this is much better._ Pride stood. _Now, I wonder how my good friend Lust is doing…?_

**_Short chapter, i know, but it was definitely necessary. Kraya does a lot of changes here. she recalls her past as Pride, and thus, it awakens Pride within her subconscious, if you didn't already get it. it can be VERY confusing, i know...a lot of times, i don't even know if what i'm writing makes any sense, so tell me if i'm not making any sense, kay? THANK YOU FOR UR REVIEWS AND CONTINUE R&Ring!_**


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